DECISION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
On March 10, 2004, Hearing Officer Michael Doheny issued the attached Order Granting Respondent’s Motion for Dismissal of Complainant’s retaliation claim under Section 207(a) of the CAA, 2 U.S.C. 1317(a). The Hearing Officer held that the Complainant’s retaliation claim was precluded by the proceedings in Thomas J. Devlin v. Office of the Architect of the Capitol, Case No. 0l-AC-373 (RP) (“Devlin f’). We affirm the dismissal of this case upon the determination that it is barred by the doctrine of issue preclusion, also referred to as collateral estoppel.
In Devlin I, the Complainant alleged that the Respondent had engaged in age discrimination by failing to classify him properly or provide him with a non-competitive promotion on the basis of the duties he was performing. After hearing, Hearing Officer Sylvia Bacon dismissed the complaint on the merits. The Hearing Officer’s decision was based, in large part, on findings regarding the issue of whether Respondent had denied Complainant a position classification desk audit. In a desk audit, a Human Resources Specialist interviews the employee and his/her supervisor and determines: (l) whether the employee’s position description accurately depicts the work performed by the employee, and (2) whether the job is classified at the proper pay level. Mary Dolli.\· v. Robert E. Rubin, Secretwy of the Department o/Treaswy, 77 F.3d 777, 779, n. I (5 Cir. 1995).
Hearing Officer Bacon found that the Complainant had not been refused a desk audit by the Respondent, Respondent was willing to do a desk audit whenever Complainant would agree, and Complainant had “frustrated for whatever reason, the efforts of Respondent to do a desk audit”. (Hearing Officer’s November 18, 2003 Decision, pp. 6-8.) These factual findings were supported by Complainant’s own statements in the Devlin I proceedings: he admitted at his deposition that he was unwilling to have a desk audit performed, and his post-hearing brief acknowledged that he was never denied a desk audit.
